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Quirky crockery and striped paper straws are cute, don't get me wrong, but a last minute put together brunch has a comforting modesty to it that I prefer.

Fancy Folk / We Live Upstairs

Have you met Leah?

What lovely things have you crossed off of your 2013 to-do-list?

The biggest thing I've crossed off this year has to be getting married : ) Not that it was necessarily "on the list" for this year before he asked me, but, now that I've planned one, I'd say putting on a celebration of that size in 8 months is quite the accomplishment : ) You can see more about my wedding here.

Describe your style

I would say that my style is pretty eclectic. I like a bohemian feel sometimes, grunge some days, and the occasional uber feminine ensemble makes its way out of my closet. One thing I pretty much always do, however, is mix and match. For example, if I've got a flowy, feminine top on, I'll try to edge-it-up with a more masculine feel on the bottom half. I find that keeps things interesting and balanced. You can see my outfits here. 

What would your menu be for a dinner party that you're hosting?

I'm a vegetarian, but my husband is not, so we don't usually cook meat at home (he gets it when we go out). However, we do have a couple of vegetarian specialties we make that tend to impress ; ). The main course would probably be our potato tacos, with our homemade guacamole and blue corn chips. We also have a special seasoning process we use to grill our corn on the cob, which is also quite good. 

Another thing we love doing is making drinks for people...and the way this dinner is going, I think margaritas would be in order. Matt, (husband) makes a mean one. We like to keep things lively and casual when we have people over, so I think this meal would be the spark to a great atmosphere.

If you were a cat who would you follow all day in the hope that they would look after you? 

If I were a cat, I'd probably try to find the nearest "cat lady" and stick by her. She's sure to take care of me, yeah?

Your perfect day would be...

Being as Matt and I just moved 13 hours away from virtually all of our family/friends, I'd say my perfect day right now would be hanging with my ladies, doing a little shopping (it's been so long for me!), grabbing a bite to eat (& drinks) and catching up. Nothing super crazy, but I miss my girls.

Also, I'd love to get a hot air balloon ride in there somewhere : ) 

>> Check out Leah's blog

Expectations

The last three months I implemented a blogging schedule so I could get organised and utilise my free time wisely now that I have less of it. Today I was looking at my blog notes, and I had planned to write a post about Romy's transition into her own room of a night, however, this is yet to happen. And I had planned to write this post at the end of July, because I expected we would make this transition around the three month mark. But what I wasn't expecting was to be so clingy with her. During my pregnancy I had all of these fantastic ideas about how Luke & I were going to parent our baby, and have not explored a single one. Because actually being a parent is nothing like I expected it to be. Last night when Luke & I were discussing Romy's current sleeping arrangement, which is in her bassinet next to my side of the bed, I started to get really anxious about not having her so close to me. And my separation anxiety really kicked in when Luke suggested I go visit some friends in Newcastle (which is an hour away) and he would spend the day with her. I think I am going to have to make these big moves one at a time, and getting her accustomed to her own room is the first one.

It is easy to imagine certain situations and create your expectations based on how you felt about the visualisation. But mostly things aren't how you expected them to be. Like the casting choice for 50 Shades Of Grey. I really thought and hoped they would have cast Ryan Gosling as Christian Grey. I was so convinced that while reading the books I just imaged him as the character. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement.

Snail Mail

Yesterday Luke & I printed a whole bunch of photos we've taken over the last couple of months of Romy and things from our daily adventures. And today I spent the morning making up little envelopes of love to send to our family and friends. I had such a lovely morning writing little love notes, going through photos and making up bundles to share. I am going to make more of an effort to send out more snail mail, because receiving something in the mail is so much more exciting. This Christmas I'm going to try and get involved in a package swap again. I participated in a blog swap secret Santa the first year I started blogging and had such a blast collecting little things to put in my package, and would love to do it again. If snail mail is your thing, then you should really check out this lovely lady.

Start Your Week Off With..

DIY Painted cork coasters by Ladyface Blog

The predatory wasp of the Palisades by Whimsy Darling

Strange, but good by Amanda K. By The Bay

Dream by Pretty Lovely

Enjoy your week!

My Monthly Agenda / September

TUNE / NEED / MEAL / READ

Now that the colder months of the year are 'officially' over, its time to explore all of the different kinds of cold dishes and interesting salads. Yesterday while we were doing the groceries I spotted kale leaves for salad mixes, and I've never seen them before. The kale craze has really only recently started up over here, and I wouldn't be as familiar with it if I didn't read a lot of international blogs. So I'm looking forward to putting some kale leaves in my lunch salads this week. I'm also really looking forward to trying this quinoa & watermelon salad, it looks and sounds so fresh and tasty and will be perfect for summer dinners! It is becoming more and more common to mix up sweet fruits in savoury dishes, and the times Luke & I have done so we've enjoyed it. Luke was especially interested when I showed him this recipe that 'the chronicles of home' shared last month. 

When I was a teenager Friday afternoons could not come fast enough for a couple of reasons, the most obvious being the start of the weekend. But most importantly it was when the 'Rage' playlist was posted on the JJJ website as it was the main source of new music. I grew up in a small country town and the local cd store basically only stocked top 40, and could rarely order indie bands. For example, when I first got into Hole it was impossible to order in 'pretty on the inside' and bands similar. So watching Rage was a big, exciting deal! Since moving towns and being exposed to different avenues of pop culture, I rarely made the effort to watch it. However, a couple of Saturdays ago Luke & I found ourselves watching Rage and 'the jungle giants' music clip came on and reminded how fantastic they are! Luke & I saw them when they supported Boy & Bear last year and I really liked they sound, but just forgot to look into them more. So they are going to the sounds of September in my house!

See You Next Year August!

August has been and gone, and winter is officially over until next year. July & August are generally my favourite months of the year. I love winter clothes so much better, and I especially would prefer the colder months over our hot summers. This years winter was pretty much a cold summer, there was only really a weeks worth of really cold weather. The hot heat won't settle in for a couple of months yet, so I intend on making the most out of spring. I had every intention of doing an all day spring clean, but Luke & I decided to go for a little day trip to buy cupcakes. And our spring clean sort of got put on hold. So this week I am going to get stuck into sorting things out and getting things done. 

This month we booked a photography session when we went to the monthly markets yesterday. This is something we have been meaning to do for the past couple of months. I am glad we waited though, now that Romy is a little bigger and has grown into her features and she looks more distinguished. She also has been practicing her smiles this past month and showing them off like its nobodies business! Which will be nice to see in her upcoming photo session. Another thing I finally got to cross off my to-do-list was set up my Kindle! You guys, I received this as a birthday present last December! So it was about time I put this into action. I will always prefer to read the printed word, however I don't like carting around an abundance of books each move and having a library on an awesome device like the Kindle is far more practical. I also now no longer need to leave my house to buy a book! 

We kept ourselves quite busy this month with dinner dates, spending time with our family, visits from friends & morning market dates. This month Romy hit the four month mark and had her four month needles. It is a little crazy to think her next monthly milestone will be five months! Around the time we first bought her home, one of my friend's babies was teething, and I remember thinking how far away that was for us & Romy and feeling like the newborn sleepless nights were going to go on forever. But they have passed and Romy is now teething, and doing so many other new things. Now that she is more active and awake longer during the day, I've planned my days differently so that I spend all my day focusing on her, and spending my evenings catching up on things around the house and doing things for myself. We made a lot of positive changes this month, and I'm looking forward to making more in September. And am definitely looking forward to the spring season!